Phoenix Rising
by hypothetical5
Summary: Can people recover from the ashes of their past? How did Ginny and Harry and the rest of the Potter-universe get from Dumbledore's office to nineteen years later?
1. Chapter 1

***Author's note: Hello! I'm sure you are all very, very aware but I don't own, nor have created any character in the Potter-universe. That loveliness belongs to J..***

Ginny watched as the fire cackled merrily in the fireplace. It didn't seem right, after tonight. The warmth of the fire was hard to look at, hard to feel. She felt as if she should be in a dungeon somewhere, damp and cold. She remembered six years previous having been in such a place, Tom Riddle's teenage memory leering at her as her life slowly leaked away. That memory made her shiver. But, no, that was over with, she thrust it from her mind. She had been saved that night, from the very man who had just saved everyone. Everything had ended tonight. She should feel warm.

But still, too much had just happened. Scenes flashed across her memory: Harry asking her to leave the room of requirements, herself jinxing masked men as the castle fought, the cold and terrible voice of Voldemort piercing the very air asking for the life of Harry Potter, soothing a girl in their hour of recovery. She saw her brother's cold body laid out next to the rest, his eyes once full of mischief now staring up at the enchanted ceiling, unfeeling. And the worst memory of all, seeing Harry's body cold and unmoving at Voldemort's feet.

It amazed Ginny how much had occurred in less than twenty four hours. The war was over. She had woken up that morning in hiding and tonight could sleep in her own bed, though she doubted she would.

A log slipped in the fire, the sound made Ginny jump. She stretched her arms and looked at the room around her. She had slipped away from her family in the Great Hall and returned to the Gryffindor common room. She had thought she wanted to be alone, but now that she was she craved the company of others. This room was full of happy memories and she realized she should remember those as well. This was the very room Harry had kissed her for the first time. After years of unreturned feelings, Harry had finally realized he liked her as more than his best friend's sister. And yet, that had ended. Those brilliant weeks were nothing more than memories.

Ginny sighed and stood up. She would be returning to this common room soon enough, but until then she wanted her family. It seemed silly now that she had left them in the Great Hall.

As she turned to leave the room she heard someone crawling though the portrait hole. Her heart froze mid-beat as she realized it was Harry.

He saw her and stopped moving, as if he had been frozen before he could stand up straight. Harry's hair was matted with sweat and blood, as were his clothes. The material he wore was ripped and blood shone through many of the holes. His glasses were askew over his green eyes that seemed to burn as they looked into her own.

Seconds passed, or was it minutes or days? Neither person spoke as they stared into each other's eyes. Finally Harry straightened.

He cleared his throat and asked the most absurd question, "Are you alright?"

"Am I… alright?" Ginny's mind felt clouded as she contemplated how to answer. And then she found her voice. "I, I don't even know how to answer that question. I lost so much…we lost so much tonight. Am I _alright_? I nearly lost you. I thought you were dead. You meant to die tonight, you said it yourself. You meant to leave us, leave me, and with no goodbye. And you ask if I'm alright! I don't know, I don't know if I'm alright. I'm elated and I'm destroyed. I haven't yet pieced together my heart or my mind from all that has happened tonight. You were dead, an empty shell at Voldemort's feet. I _saw_ you dead and my heart broke into a thousand pieces. And then there was Neville and the snake and chaos and then you were gone. I was being pushed back toward the Great Hall and all I wanted, _all_ I wanted, was to hurt as many stupid Death Eaters who got in my way. I wanted to make someone else feel the pain of their whole world shattering into a million tiny pieces, because then maybe I could ignore my own broken existence. And I found myself opposite Bellatrix, and I watched my mother duel with more ferocity than I knew she had in her. And then suddenly you were there, alive. You fought Voldemort and won and now you're here and…" words failed Ginny and she turned her back to Harry and fell down onto the couch. She realized she had started crying, but she couldn't remember when. She has just said a lot, and she wasn't sure if any of it had made sense. _Nothing_ made sense anymore. And _Fred_… Ginny wiped her eyes and gazed back into the fire.

She heard Harry as he slowly walked around the couch and sat next to her. He, too, stared at the flames. He mouth twitched slightly as if he had something to say, but he seemed to change his mind. They sat there for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Harry spoke. He turned to her and cupped his hand under her chin, again causing green eyes to burn into brown ones. "This doesn't seem like the right time or place to say this to you. You look exhausted and I most certainly am, but if we have learned anything today it is that life is short. Tonight I almost died. And as I stared at the wand that was about to strike the final blow, I only saw you. I saw your face as the flash of green hit me. I did everything I did out of necessity, yes. My fate was decided the moment Voldemort heard the prophecy. But still, I wanted a better future for everyone: for Ron and Hermione, for your parents, for the order, for all our classmates, but most importantly, for you. Even if it couldn't… if it can't be me in your future, I want you to be happy. I want you to be safe. I love you, Ginny Weasley. I couldn't say goodbye because I wouldn't have been able to walk into that forest if I had."

Ginny's heart skipped a beat when Harry said he loved her. Ginny leaned in and laid her head upon his chest, and Harry wrapped his arms around her. "I love you too, Harry Potter. I've loved you since I met you at King's Cross."

And the two exhausted survivors held onto each other on the couch in their common room and watched the flames dance. And at that moment, that was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

"Harry, wake up. Mum's finished breakfast and she wants us all to eat together again."

Harry put on his glasses and Ron's face can into focus. "Don't you and Hermione leave soon?"

"Yeah, we leave after breakfast and I haven't finished packing." Ron grabbed his bag he had half packed, and began stuffing more clothes into it.

Harry sat up and stretched. It was exactly one week since the battle at Hogwarts. He, Hermione and the Weasleys had returned to the Burrow. Hermione and Ron had waited a week so that they could stay for Fred's funeral, which had been held the day before. But now Hermione was going to Australia to find her parents and Ron had offered to go with. Harry had offered to go as well, but it was half-hearted and Hermione had understood. It wasn't that Harry minded the traveling, even after all the time they had spent on the run in the past year. He would have gone with her because, after all, she had spent a year traveling with him as well. The real reason Harry was hesitant was that he didn't want to leave Ginny, and Hermione understood. In all honesty, neither Ron nor Hermione really minded Harry's absence from the trip.

The past week had been incredibly hectic. The Daily Prophet read of eyewitness accounts of the battle at Hogwarts for those in the wizarding world who weren't there. It also read of many captures and arrests of Death Eaters who had escaped that night. Reporter after reporter had tried to contact Harry, but Harry ignored them. The public wanted Harry to appear, they wanted a public speech or the whole story printed in the prophet. But Harry had spent the week in private with his closest friends. The wizarding world was wounded and rebuilding, but Harry felt it could be done without him. With everything going on as well as funeral preparations, it had been difficult to find time alone with Ginny.

A loud bang from the attic made Ron jump. "Oy! Keep it down up there!" Ron turned to Harry, "I don't think the ghoul appreciates having to return to the attic." Harry laughed as he changed out of his pajamas.

Ron and Harry walked down the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of breakfast made Harry and Ron look at each other and smile. Even though he, Ron and Hermione had been eating consistent great meals for a week, these meals continued to taste extra delicious after a year of rubbery mushrooms and burnt fish.

"Hello Harry. Ron, have you finished packing?" Hermione was the first to see them enter the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah. Almost." Ron said through a full mouth. He had already picked up a plate of food and was shoving it in his mouth. Hermione caught Ginny's eyes as she rolled her own.

Harry automatically sat next to Ginny; he grabbed her hand under the table. She turned to him and smiled.

"Here you are, Harry dear." Mrs. Wealsey placed a plate heaping with food down in front of him. She had already lamented at the skinniness of all three and seemed determined to properly feed each of them.

All in all, the Weasley's appeared to be settling in back at the Burrow. There would always be an empty spot at the table and in the family where Fred belonged. But though the family still wore black—it had only been a week since Fred's valiant fight—the family was doing its best to return to normal, whatever normal was now. After all, George had already commented that Fred wouldn't have wanted the family to lose their laughter. Everyone in the Burrow had lost someone wonderful, but they all still had each other. Life was bittersweet.

After breakfast Ron ran back up to his room to finish packing. Hermione got out her beaded bag and began double checking to make sure she remembered everything.

"I still wish you two would wait, though I do understand your hurry," Mrs. Weasley said ask she was charming the dishes clean. Her understanding went far enough to almost not complain about the planned trip of Hermione and Ron. Almost. "It's still dangerous out there. A few supporters of Voldemort are still trying to fight their cause and they don't care who they hurt to do it. If you could only wait a few more weeks…"

"Mrs. Weasley, we know about the dangers. We'll be careful. We managed to evade capture for nearly a year while on the run with Undesirable Number One. I think we can handle a few stray Death Eaters." Hermione laughed.

"Yeah, mum," Ron had appeared in the kitchen again, "we can handle it. Hermione wants her parents back. And the sooner we go, the better chance we have of finding them."

"Oh I know," sighed Mrs. Weasley. "I just want everyone home safe." And she strode across the room and caught both Ron and Hermione in a warm hug. When she released them, she walked back to the sink with her head bowed. Harry saw her wipe her eyes furtively and wondered if anyone else had as well. As if answering Harry's unasked question, Ginny left her seat and went to comfort her mother.

"Alright then Ron, give me your bag so I can pack it." Hermione held out her hand.

"Not that little purple bag again!" Ron groaned as he relinquished his bag to Hermione.

"Excuse me! But this bag got us through a whole year, in case you can't remember!" Hermione stuffed Ron's bag in the purple one with a little too much force.

"And a great job it did, too. But did it have to be _beaded_?"

"Oh, I am so _sorry_. The next time I prepare a plan clever enough to help all three of us through a year, I'll make sure to double check with you so as to avoid any fashion errors." She glanced at the clock. "I think we better get going."

Hermione and one very red Ron gave hugs to everyone in the room before grabbing hands and apparating. If all went well, they should recover Hermione's parents within the week.

After they were gone, Ginny walked back to Harry and held out her hand. With one eye brow raised, she asked "Want to play some quidditch?"

Harry grabbed her hand and followed out the back door. Maybe they'd play some quidditch, if they got around to it.


End file.
